


A Time and a Place

by lizwontcry



Category: Succession (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, the thanksgiving fic no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:55:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21584125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizwontcry/pseuds/lizwontcry
Summary: Gerri and Roman host Thanksgiving for the Roy siblings, which goes about as well as all their other gatherings.“Well. I guess that will give us something to talk about at Thanksgiving,” Gerri says, looking more amused than annoyed."Are we talking about it, though?" Roman asks somewhat nervously."Are we talking about what, exactly?""Specifically, are we telling your daughters that I'm their new stepfather, and that you are now your goddaughter's sister in law?"
Relationships: Gerri Kellman/Roman "Romulus" Roy
Comments: 9
Kudos: 87





	1. Chapter 1

Her hair is curly. Like, not just curly, but like… intricate waves of ash blonde hair that frames her face perfectly when she wakes up in the morning. Roman has known Gerri most of his life and he never realized her hair was curly. She has to wake up at 4:49 AM (he doesn’t question why this exact minute is when her alarm goes off) just to straighten it every single day before she goes to the office. 

Roman asks her about this one late night. He’s in her office, signing off on document after document--as it turns out, having the title of sole COO means he spends most of the day signing things--while Gerri answers her mountain of emails before even thinking about heading home. They ordered Chinese food since it’s yet another late night. 

“You could wake up at an almost reasonable hour if you didn’t straighten your fucking hair for once,” Roman says. It’s been three nights in a row of working late and he can see the bone-tired exhaustion on her face. He really just wants Gerri to get some sleep, is that too much to ask?

Gerri sighs. “It’s been too long… I can’t stop now. I have a reputation to maintain.”

Roman scoffs. “I think your reputation can withstand curly hair. Why did you start straightening it, anyway?”

Gerri stops typing furiously and makes a face. “Hmm. Good question. Well… I suppose Baird liked my hair straight. His mother had curly hair so he always requested I straighten it. So I did.” Gerri shrugs as if this is a perfectly reasonable thing for a husband to ask of his wife.

“Wow… what a fucking asshole,” Roman says under his breath, but obviously Gerri hears him. “Sorry, sorry, but really, who does that? Jesus.”

“It was a different time,” Gerri says, but looks as though she is considering this in a new light. 

The age difference does matter, actually. People can claim that “age is just a number” all they want but it’s actually a big fucking deal. Although he obviously respects Gerri’s experience, advice, and wisdom, whenever she delivers a gem like “it was just a different time,” he just… doesn’t get it. It seems like for Gerri, the sexual harassment used to be just a given in her life. Even as a man who has had questionable judgement about these things in the past, Roman was appalled at the stories she’d tell him about the stuff she’d deal with from men in the business. Why didn’t she just rip their balls off or something? “It was a different time,” his ass. 

“Well. Anyway. You look hot with your curly hair. Like a fuckin’... middle-aged sexy soccer mom who drives a mini van,” Roman says, clearly imagining it in his head.

“Gee, how flattering. Thank you,” Gerri says dryly, but she’s holding back a sly smile. 

It’s been a few months since Logan was ousted as CEO of Waystar Royco and Gerri was appointed in his place, with Roman as sole COO. It was obviously dicey at first, with the two of them trying to figure out what the fuck was going on and how they could possibly move forward, but they’re managing to run this thing somewhat smoothly now. 

Since Roman and Gerri were already crossing some kind of strange line between coworkers and weird kinky late night sex friends, it was only natural that this continue when they are essentially forced to spend almost every moment of every day together. If you would have asked either one of them a month ago, they wouldn’t be able to define exactly what their relationship was, but it existed, and it kept them both afloat in this tumultuous time in their lives. The marriage thing, well, that's just the icing on the cake.

“So we’re still doing Thanksgiving at our— _your_ \--place, right?” Roman asks a bit abruptly. He’s all but living at Gerri’s apartment but they haven’t actually, like, talked about him fully moving in. Apparently being married doesn't mean they have to live together yet. This year, they are hosting a small gathering with Gerri's daughters and Roman's siblings. While Logan waits for his trial, he’s staying at a cousin’s house in Canada. Those huge Roy family holidays in the finest of accommodations are probably a thing of the past, at least for a while. Roman doesn't miss them. 

“Yes, I suppose so,” Gerri says. “You can pick up Wendy and Sandra from the airport on Thursday morning." 

“Cool. Is Sandra, like, still in love with me? Because that would be weird,” Roman says. He doesn’t get to see Gerri’s daughters much, even though they used to play with Shiv all the time when they were younger.

Gerri rolls her eyes. “She had a _tiny_ crush on you when she was 12 years old. I would hardly classify it as being ‘in love’ with you.”

“Oh, yeah? Did she tell you that I was her first kiss?”

From Gerri’s raised eyebrows, Roman is now aware that Sandra definitely did not tell her mother this information.

“Not when she was 12, obviously. But when she was 16 and I was 18. She asked me politely and, well, she was cute. So I gave her a kiss.” Roman has no idea why he’s chosen to tell Gerri this.

“Well. I guess that will give us something to talk about at Thanksgiving,” Gerri says, looking more amused than annoyed. 

"Are we talking about it, though?" Roman asks somewhat nervously.

"Are we talking about what, exactly?"

"Specifically, are we telling your daughters that I'm their new stepfather, and that you are now your goddaughter's sister in law?" 

Gerri looks up from her laptop wearily.

"I don't know, Rome... what do you think?"

This is still somewhat a sore point between them. Roman wants to shout about their weird marriage from the rooftops, but Gerri is not as eager. They are attempting to turn Waystar Royco back into a company that isn't the laughingstock of the rumor mill, and as such, Gerri thinks their relationship needs to stay between them for now. This was obviously discussed before they made the decision to go to City Hall and get married one random, chilly sunny afternoon about six weeks ago, but Roman is not so good at the secrets thing. However, he's also not a fucking idiot. Obviously Gerri knows what she's talking about, and he mostly respects her opinion on this and almost everything else.

Not that Roman spends a lot of time _thinking about his feelings_ or whatever, but ever since Gerri took more of an interest in helping him out professionally, and then it merged to more... personal, he's felt such a renewed, like... _hope_? For his life. It's not like he wasn't satisfied by his old routine of working whenever he had to, and partying every other moment of the day/night. That was just fine. However, actually contributing to running his family's company, learning the business, coming up with new ideas, and generally doing a good job in his role of COO is giving him much more, like, meaning to his existence. He definitely couldn't do it without Gerri. For the longest time, Gerri felt undervalued and underwhelmed by her job, but by teaming up with Roman, the underdog, they both have found a new approach to an old company. It's been pretty fuckin' great, Roman would say.

Plus, the sexy times are rather satisfying, too. It usually happens after Gerri's had a long day and wants to take it out on someone; Roman is ready and willing for that person to be him. It works for them. They're slowly progressing from her verbally berating him to occasional make-out sessions; maybe someday they will actually consummate this marriage, but neither of them are in a hurry to rush things.

"I think... you're right about everything and we should do whatever you want," Roman says. Gerri exhales, looking frustrated as usual when Roman acts like a petulant kid. 

"There is a time and a place for that kind of announcement, and the first major holiday with your father in hiding and your siblings still bitter about everything is not it."

"I get it, I get it," Roman says, and he definitely _does_ get it, but he still can't help but feel like she's kind of ashamed of their new marriage. She's told him repeatedly that that's not the case. 

It wasn't like it was spur of the moment, really. When Roman "proposed" in Dundee, Gerri had no intentions of actually going through with it. But after he defended her from the blood sacrifice, she actually got to thinking about it and decided it wasn't such a bad idea. First of all, it would give them an advantage for legal reasons, if that were to become an issue with the cruises scandal. Second, it would give them a strategic advantage to be aligned together, both personally and professionally. Plus, they were both kind of lonely? Gerri has been a widow for a long time and never had any time to date, and before their first interesting phone call, Roman hadn't known anyone who could get him off so easily while also knowing him inside and out. The way Gerri reads him; the way she calls him on his bullshit while still appreciating where he's coming from, it's unnerving and Roman digs it. Even all his past gorgeous, blond, tall, age-appropriate girlfriends have never made him feel the way he does about Gerri--although Tabitha did come close, he'd have to admit. 

For Gerri, she enjoys his company; he makes her laugh and that's not always easy for others to do. Plus, she likes being with a younger man even if she'd never admit it to him. It's not exactly like they're in love--not the traditional kind of love, anyway--but it's something. They have room to grow. And they're making it work. Secretly, Roman supposes.

"I promise we will tell everyone when the time is right. Let's get this company back on its feet first, though. Don't you agree?"

"Yeah," Roman says, not convincingly. 

Gerri gets up from her desk chair and walks over to Roman's chair. She sits on the desk in front of him and beckons him to her. He obliges because why wouldn't he? She kisses him gently and holds one of his hands with hers. They aren't very affectionate people so the small gestures are so important in these early days of marriage. Plus, Roman is basically putty in her capable hands, let's just be honest.

"I'm not ashamed, Rome. I'm proud to be your wife. It just has to be--"

"The right time and the right place," Roman finishes for her.

Gerri nods, gives him a small smile, and returns to her seat. It's going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This all started because of a pic J. Smith-Cameron posted on Twitter with her cutest curly hair and it just all went downhill from there. (This picture specifically - https://twitter.com/j_smithcameron/status/1191571400814997504/photo/1)  
> \- Also: Rock on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving, American friends! Comments and kudos are welcome; this family dialogue is not so easy to write and feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading!

While Gerri's at home on Thursday morning preparing for everyone's arrival, Roman picks up Wendy and Sandra from the airport. Like the gentleman he's trying to be, he meets them at baggage claim instead of making them trek all the way outside with their piles of luggage.

Roman hasn't seen them for years, but it's not like they're hard to spot. Wendy has always resembled a young Gerri, with curly blonde hair and glasses, dressed all prim and proper like her mom. Sandra has always been the rebellious one; her hair is dyed black, she has a nose ring, and she's wearing a Guns N' Roses shirt and blue jeans. Roman always thought she was trying too hard, but like, she's also kind of hot. He'd probably kiss her again if he wasn't currently occasionally kissing her mother.

"Hi, girls," Roman says as he approaches him. They both look at him in surprise. He guesses Gerri neglected to tell them that he would be picking them up.

"Roman? Why in the world did our mom send you, of all people? Were all the butlers too busy to come to the airport today?" Sandra asks, looking him up and down and making him feel dirty. 

"Just helping her out. She's busy at our-- _the_ house," Roman corrects himself quickly. Wendy raises her eyebrows in a classic Gerri manner, but doesn't comment on his weirdness.

"What, is she making the mashed potatoes?" Sandra says, and laughs at her own joke. Like Gerri has made anything with a potato in her entire life.

"Sandra, stop being such a bitch. Thanks for picking us up, Roman. We appreciate it," Wendy says. Roman nods and tries to smile like a regular human would. He wants their approval, which is really annoying. 

He gathers the biggest pieces of luggage and takes them outside to the car, where the driver is waiting. 

"Of course you have a driver," Sandra says, looking at the car with disgust.

"What, you think I'm going to drive to the fucking airport myself? Who even does that?" Roman says, equally disgusted.

The driver helps them load all the luggage (too much for a 3 day trip, Roman thinks), and they are on their way. 

"So, Roman, our mom says that you two have been working together a lot since your brother fucked all of you over. How has that been?" Wendy asks.

"Oh, it's been a picnic in the park," Roman says. This reminds him to check his phone to make sure there's no fires to put out at this exact moment. Thankfully it appears that Thanksgiving day is the one time nobody needs anything. He's getting used to dealing with every new drama as it comes up, with Gerri's help, of course. It both does and does not get easier to anticipate the problems before they happen. Roman frankly had no idea how much work basically running a billion dollar company would be, but he's doing his best to handle it all. 

"Well, thankfully our mom is there to tie your shoes for you," Sandra says. 

"Yes, she also cuts my food for me and gives me my binky before tucking me in at night," Roman says. Why is Sandra riding his ass so hard?

"I don't doubt that," Sandra says. Wendy gives her a look, and thankfully that's the end of the firing squad as both girls are glued to their phones for the rest of the drive to the city.

When the car pulls up to Gerri's building, Roman tries once again to prove that chivalry is not dead by escorting Wendy and Sandra up the stairs while holding the umbrella for them. 

Gerri greets her daughters when they make it inside the townhouse. Since Roman has spent so much time with her in and out of work, he sees how hard she makes an effort to talk to both of them at least once a day. Sometimes it's quite a task; Roman has literally never been in the presence of someone who works so hard all the fucking time, but it's important to Gerri that she does her best to keep in touch with them, no matter how busy she is. It's just another thing that he respects and appreciates about her.

"Wow, Mom, your hair look so good! Since when you did stop straightening it every day?" Sandra asks, hugging her mom and then holding her so she could see her hair.

"Oh, just a little while; we're so busy now that I don't have time to spare in the morning anymore," Gerri says, and gazes back at Roman. He loves that she said " _we're_ so busy," and thankfully her daughters don't seem to notice this small slip up. He's also grateful that she took his words about straightening her hair into consideration. There's something about her that seems so much lighter now that it's one less thing she has to deal with these days.

"Well, I love it. I guess Dad is the one who always liked it straight..." Wendy says.

"True," Sandra agrees. She sighs. "And he used to love Thanksgiving so much, even more than Christmas. It was almost the only day out of the year that he stopped working for the whole day."

"Yeah. I always miss him the most on Thanksgiving," Wendy says. 

Gerri hugs her daughters and Roman watches them all have a moment while he pours himself a drink. It's hard to compete with a dead guy, he thinks. It's been seven years since Baird died. Gerri doesn't mention him much. All Roman remembers about him is that he fucking loved tortoises to almost an insane degree. His family used to breed them or something when he was a kid. He even had a huge tortoise tattoo on his arm. Otherwise, Baird was a conservative lawyer guy with no sense of humor, but goddamn, he loved those tortoises. When he died, Gerri gave away his two tortoises, Harry and Sally, to a sanctuary. She did not love them as much as her dearly departed husband.

Whatever, Roman thinks. He's Gerri's husband now. Clearly Roman is the winner by default here. This stupid, terrible thought gives him a bit of cheer while Gerri, Wendy and Sandra have their sad moment together.

The doorbell rings and Roman answers the door since it is likely one of his idiot siblings. Not surprisingly, Shiv and Tom are the first ones to arrive. Shiv has two bottles of wine and Tom brought his favorite beer. Ever since their throw-down on the yacht, things have been kind of tense between them, but they're still trying to make it work. Roman doesn't really know why, but he admires their dedication. Now that he's happily in a non-traditional relationship, he doesn't judge everyone else's. As much, anyway.

"Hey, Rome," Shiv says when they come in from the cold. "Since when do you ever show up on time for anything?"

Roman glances at Gerri, who is taking their coats, and she gives him a look. So he doesn't say "Because I spent the night here and most of the other nights, too." Instead he shrugs and says, "I heard Gerri made the mashed potatoes and I couldn't wait to be poisoned by them."

"Is that true, Ger? What a wonderful surprise," Tom says. "I didn't know you were a potato aficionado."

"Of course it's not true, idiot," Roman says, as always eager to insult Tom. "We obviously had it catered."

" _We_? As if you lifted a finger to help in any way," Shiv says, shaking her head. 

_Damn_ , Roman thinks. He needs to come up with a story so Shiv doesn't spend the whole night trying to figure out if there's something fishy going on here. He definitely doesn't need her nosy ass in his business tonight.

"In case you haven't noticed, asslick, Gerri and I have been busy running a fucking company. So yes, _we_ had it catered so that _you_ don't have to lift a lazy fucking finger to do anything."

He glances at Gerri again and she gives him a slight nod, like she approves of this scenario. And it's basically true, anyway. But they're really both going to need to get better at this "we" stuff.

"Right. When is the Company Fucker going to get here, anyway?" Shiv asks. That's how the family has been referring to Kendall since his infamous press conference. 

"When he's finished with his coke binge, probably," Tom says, and although they both probably agree, and they both are still pretty mad at the guy, Roman and Shiv give Tom a dirty look for talking shit about their brother.

"Hey, Shiv!" Wendy comes in from the kitchen and hugs Shiv. 

"Oh, wow, Wendy! I haven't seen you in forever. How's the lawyer life?"

"Awful as always, thanks for asking."

Shiv laughs. Sandra gives her an awkward hug as well. The two of them never got along.

"Hey, Sandy. What's up?" Shiv asks, trying to sound casual or something.

"Nobody has called me Sandy in like 15 years, but okay. I have a lot going on, actually. I'm writing a blog about the feminist movement in Africa, and I'm also a freelance pottery artist. I've been learning how to read tarot cards, too. Maybe I can read yours later tonight."

"Uh-huh. Sounds like fun. Hey, do you still want to have like a thousand kids with Roman?" Shiv asks like the real bitch she is, Roman thinks.

"Shiv, fuck off," Roman says, although he is kind of curious about her answer, too.

"Um, absolutely not," Sandra says, looking legitimately disgusted. "First of all? Gross."

"Oh, yeah? Did you think it was gross when you asked me to give you your first kiss?" Roman can't help himself.

"Gross enough that I'm a lesbian now," Sandra shoots back. "I guess you just unlocked that part of me, so thanks for that, actually."

"Happy to do my part," Roman mutters. Gerri obviously did not mention this to him, perhaps just so they could have a moment like this. Sure enough, when he glances over at her, she's smiling like it's Christmas day or something.

Shiv is delighted by this also, but her gloating is interrupted by the doorbell. Connor and Willa are at the door, looking like their usual miserable selves. 

"Hey, family! The Scrooges are here," Connor says as they hug everyone.

"Hi, Con. How's life on the streets?" Tom asks him.

"Oh, it's wonderful. I'm truly learning so much about how the fringes get by these days. It's fascinating! I'm thinking of doing a documentary. Willa has already started writing one."

"Fringes, Con? Really?" Shiv asks with raised eyebrows.

"Look, Shiv, life is different outside of the bubble you're in. Come visit me in Santa Fe and you'll understand."

Everyone collectively rolls their eyes. Since Logan went to Canada without giving Con his requested paltry sum of $100 million, Connor not only had to give up his presidential campaign but he also had to sell Austerlitz for way less than he's put into it. He also had to take a job as a (highly paid) consultant for a political firm that leans towards his politics. It's not as glamorous as funding a Broadway play and hyperdecanting, but it's hardly a pauper's life, either.

The mystery is why Willa is still with Connor now that he's not funding her playwright career. Roman's theory is that her play bombed so spectacularly that now she can't even be seen in the community anymore, and now she has no option but to stay with Connor. 

Gerri comes out of the kitchen with a tray of hors d'oeuvres, which a crowd of hungry Roys and Kellmans descend upon. 

"So, Rome, how's the biz these days? Are we making money yet?" Connor asks Roman.

Roman spreads some pate on a cracker and answers with his mouth full. "It's fucking great, no thanks to any of you. Well, except Shiv. Thanks, little sis."

Shiv has been working on the PR campaign to make Waystar RoyCo look less like a disaster cruise company that hates women. It's been about effective as it could be in the wake of the scandal, and Roman kind of likes working with his sister to improve their image.

"Plus Gerri is a rockstar, of course. She's working on a few huge deals for us, and we should be able to turn things around by this time next year," Roman says, nodding to Gerri. Not only has she had to deal with all the legal ramifications of Kendall's big announcement, but as CEO, she's had to manage all the business bullshit, too. Roman is constantly in awe of her.

"Roman is working on many new ideas, too," Gerri adds. "It's quite impressive how he's been able to take the reins on so many projects. You kids should be proud of your brother."

"Jesus, get a room," Shiv says under her breath. Tom chuckles. Roman throws a cracker at her. He shoots Gerri a grateful look; after all, Roman is not particularly used to: a. doing a good job and b. people he loves complimenting him on doing a good job. He could get used to this.

Everyone mingles for a bit; Shiv and Wendy continue to catch up while Tom and Connor have a discussion in the corner of the living room about living among the peons or something. 

There's a fire going in Gerri's fireplace, football is playing on the TV, and there's a mellow feeling of warmth radiating throughout the house. Roman finds Gerri in the kitchen and gives her a quick kiss on her cheek. She smiles at her new husband, and for a moment, it almost feels like a completely normal day. That's, of course, when the doorbell rings.

Willa answers the door and all the conversations stop as Kendall, Greg, and Naomi all come in. 

"Hey, it's the Company Fucker and the fuckettes," Tom greets them. Tom's been remarkably bitter about Greg's involvement with Kendall; understandably seeing that Greg held on to the documents that Tom not only trusted him with in the first place, but also thought had been destroyed. Gerri and Roman thought about not inviting Greg and Kendall, but ultimately decided to since it would be much more fun that way.

"Greetings, all!" Greg says, and tries to kiss Gerri on the cheek which is as awkward as it sounds. He avoids Tom and Shiv, which is probably a good idea for him at this point. 

"Wow, who is this tall drink of water?" Roman overhears Wendy whisper to Gerri. Gerri tries her best to explain the concept of Greg to her apparently smitten daughter.

"Late as always," Shiv adds. "Thanks for gracing us with your presence."

"Yeah, sorry, we stopped at Rava's to eat a quick snack with the kids," Kendall says. 

"All three of you? How fucking awkward," Roman says. Everyone chuckles a bit, imagining this exact scenario in their heads.

"It was fine," Kendall says, and Roman can tell it was not fine.

Gerri welcomes Greg, Kendall, and Naomi and introduces them to Wendy and Sandra. It almost seems like love at first sight with Greg and Wendy; they go off to the kitchen where they are captivated by their conversation. 

"What a weird fucking love connection," Roman says to Gerri as she buzzes around and makes sure everyone has what they need. 

"Well, you can't help who you fall in love with," Gerri says. Roman looks at her curiously, but she doesn't meet his eyes. Roman has already accepted the fact that he's fallen in love with Gerri; there's nothing much he can do about it now. What he hasn't figured out yet is if she feels even a little bit the same way, married or not. Sure, she respects him and his newfound business acumen, and she enjoys spending time with him, but... does it go deeper than that? He supposes asking her about this on Thanksgiving day with all his siblings and her children is not the best time. But still... there's something in her eyes that hasn't been there before. Roman finds some hope in it.

"Now that we're all here, let's move to the dining room," Gerri says. "The food is ready. Help yourselves."

And so Thanksgiving begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for one more chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Gerri sits at the head of the table, watching all of her guests closely, drinking her third glass of wine. For at least a few minutes, the Thanksgiving dinner is peaceful. Wendy sits next to Greg and they bat their eyelashes at each other. Gerri can think of worse people than Greg ending up her son-in-law, especially seeing that she essentially made Roman Wendy's new stepfather. She can't wait to see how her daughter will react to that news. 

Shiv and Tom sit across from each other at the table, not next to each other, which is probably better for everyone. Greg is sitting as far away from Tom as possible. Kendall sits at the far end of the table with Naomi, and they're basically in their own world together. Gerri keeps reassuring herself that this is fine, they're all fine, World War III is not on the horizon. But she knows better. Having witnessed plenty of Roy holiday meals, she knows they are a couple of glasses of wine away from a massive meltdown.

"This all looks delicious, Gerri. I can't wait to dig in," Tom says when she brings in the turkey for Connor to slice.

"Thanks, Tom. I've used this catering company on many occasions. They always do a good job," Gerri says. 

"Wait--where's the cranberry sauce?" Roman says. Everyone looks at the table as though they expect a can of cranberry sauce to magically appear.

"Oh, well, I guess I didn't order any this year..." Gerri says.

"Seriously? All you motherfuckers brought cans of cranberry sauce last year and not a single fucking person bothers this year? You're all useless," Roman says.

"I guess we'll have to find the strength to go on without it," Shiv says. Roman sighs.

They pass around the mashed potatoes and dressing and yams and chatter about what's going on in their lives. Sandra and Willa talk about a Broadway play they both saw recently. Naomi and Ken whisper to themselves. Greg and Wendy continue their newfound puppy love conversations. Tom and Connor have a debate about the presidential primaries.

Although he has been instructed to behave himself, Roman spends most of dinner trying to feel up Gerri. His foot on her foot, a hand on her stockinged thigh, and many other imaginative ways to touch her. Most of the time she bats him off her--again, this is not the time or place--but occassionally she'll let him get away with it.

"So, Rome, I noticed Tabitha isn't here with you tonight," Shiv says when there's a lull in conversation.

"Nice observation, Shiv. Good use of the ol' eyeballs."

"Are you dating anyone, Roman?" Wendy asks him. 

Gerri prays a silent prayer that he doesn't gaze at her or do one of his patented moves and say he's dating an older blonde woman who gets him off by utterly humiliating him behind a closed door.

"Not at the moment. I'm a little busy trying to run a fucking company. By the way, Shiv, did you also happen to notice Dad isn't here, either?"

Everyone looks directly at Kendall, who suddenly finds something about the green beans on his plate utterly fascinating. 

"Come on, it's the elephant in the room. This is our first Thanksgiving without him in--I don't even know if we've _ever_ had one without him," Roman says. Gerri can hear in his voice that he feels bad for his father; that he misses him, no matter how much he loved to hate him, too. Gerri has witnessed this dynamic between Logan and his children for too many years to count. This is why she does her best to be supportive and encouraging with her daughters. She may be busy, she may work all the time, she may not stay in one place too long, but... she will always keep her daughters as close to her as possible. It's important to her, and she knows Wendy and Sandra appreciate it, too. 

"Yeah, thanks for that, by the way, Ken," Connor chimes in. "I can't wait to visit my 80-year-old dad in prison."

"Come on, we don't know what's going to happen," Shiv says. "Those bullshit documents Greg has don't prove anything."

"Well, they prove a lot, actually," Greg says. 

"Fuck off, Greg," Tom says angrily. "You had no right to keep those. They were my intellectual property."

"Actually--"

"You guys, you guys, it's fine. It's going to be okay," Kendall says quietly. "When has he ever not been okay? He'll figure a way out of this."

"Which he wouldn't have to do if he wasn't put into the situation in the first place," Roman says. Gerri doesn't actually agree, but it's not like her hands are clean, either. She's known about this cruise shit show for a long time. A time or two she actually threatened Lester herself to make him stop his bullshit, and each time he did. For a little while. 

"I know you want to think that, Rome, but he always knew what was going on. Do you really think anything happens in this company behind his back? Don't be so naive."

"You're such a prick," Roman says, but sits back in his chair, not able to come up with any other defense of his poor, misjudged father. Gerri is not even going to touch this one. She's always known Roman has a soft spot for the man who both verbally and physically abused him, but only years of therapy can help him now. 

Everyone sits in awkward silence for way too long. 

Tom apparently can't stand the silence and tries to come up with a peace offering. "Well, why don't we do what we did last year and everyone say something they're thankful for, eh? Wouldn't that be fun?1"

Obviously nobody thinks that would be fun.

"God, was that just a year ago? It feels like a decade ago," Shiv says. 

"Seriously. I was with Grace, Shiv and Tom hadn't gotten married and then almost divorced yet, Marcia was still with Dad, Connor hadn't gone broke yet, and Greg spent the whole day shredding documents. What an awesome day," Roman says. 

"Anyway. I am grateful that I am here with Shiv, and that we are, in fact, still married," Tom says. Everyone groans a little.

"I guess... I'm glad that we haven't all contracted syphilis," Shiv says. Roman toasts to that.

"I'm grateful for my friendship with Kendall--"

"Shut the fuck up, Greg," Tom says predictably. 

"I'm thankful that Dad isn't here to hit my kid this year," Kendall says. Everyone looks at him with daggers in their eyes, but they all acknowledge that yeah, that was in fact pretty fucked up.

Naomi says, "I'm thankful not to be with my family this year." This gets a few nods of agreement. The Roys have met the Pierces, after all.

"I'm thankful that my daughters are here with me, safe and sound, and that they've grown into such beautiful young women," Gerri says.

"I'll drink to that," Greg says. 

"I'm thankful that Ken isn't running the company with me so that he won't fuck it up like he did before," Roman says. Gerri sighs. _Here we go._

"Rome... fuck off," Kendall says, irritated.

"Seriously, Roman. Like you've done anything to help Waystar that someone hasn't come up with for you," Shiv agrees. "It's not like you have any good ideas on your own."

"What the fuck? Of course I do. Gerri and I have brainstormed a shitton of ideas, some of which we're already implementing."

Shiv scoffs. "I love you, big bro, but that's bullshit. You've never done anything but watch from the sidelines. I'm sure Gerri has her hand up your butthole manipulating you like a puppet."

Something clicks in Gerri's head with this comment. She has had enough of this shit.

"Now, hold on, Siobhan. Your brother has a lot of good ideas. He's brought a lot of fresh things to the company that your father never even thought of putting into action."

Shiv actually looks surprised that Gerri is defending Roman.

"Please, Gerri. He was just in business kindergarten a few months ago. He doesn't know how to run a fucking company."

"Oh, and you do?" Roman spits back. "We've all read your memos, Shiv. You don't know any more than I do."

"Fine. Fine. We'll all sit back and watch as you run Dad's company into the ground. It's what you’re best at, anyway."

"He's actually the best COO Waystar has seen in a long fucking time," Gerri says, her voice commanding attention from everyone at the table. "You should all be thankful that Roman is working his ass off to save a company you all helped to destroy." She's getting worked up now. "I'm proud to work with him. And I'm even prouder that I get to call him my husband."

Well, this gets everyone's attention pretty fucking quickly. Roman looks at her in genuine surprise and shock. Gerri is rather shocked herself. This is probably the worst fucking moment for this declaration, and yet she doesn't give a fuck who knows anymore.

"He's your WHAT?" Sandra exclaims.

"You MARRIED him?!" Wendy joins her sister in surprise. "But he used to make out with Sandra!"

"Well, now I'm your stepfather," Roman says, clearly enjoying this. "Welcome to the Roy family, girls."

"Oh, that's just... that's hilarious," Shiv says. "Wait until Dad finds out about this."

"I get it, though," Greg says thoughtfully. "Gerri is a hot cougar and Roman is weird. It works."

For a moment, everyone is on the same page of expressing their disgust, surprise, and every other emotion they're capable of feeling. Roman just grins at Gerri. His wife.

"What the hell?" He asks, grabbing her hand, stroking it, looking at her fondly, not caring that his siblings are acting like feral hyenas at the moment.

"I guess it _was_ the time and place," Gerri says. They lean in and share a kiss while everyone else at the table stares at them in bewilderment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Again, feedback is appreciated! Getting all their voices down was a challenge, for sure. I'm exhausted just writing about it. Also I meant to finish this *on* Thanksgiving so thanks for your patience, at least I finished it before the weekend was over? Rock on.
> 
> Also, listening to Beethoven’s symphony number 7 will only enhance this chapter: https://youtu.be/DrEWqkw01O8


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